Nuremberg Frauenkirche

I took this shot as we were walking home yesterday afternoon through the Nuremberg Hauptmarkt (the market square in the center of town). Here again is the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). I've photographed this one before, but I liked how the clouds framed it and the angles. The Frauenkirche was built starting in 1352 and completed in an astonishingly quick 9 years. It does have a dark side to its history though-- this Roman Catholic church was built on the exact site (or the very foundations-- stories differ) of a Jewish synagogue after a pogrom pushed all of those folks out, and you can still see parts of the previous building in the floor design. The church is a lot smaller than it looks, and features what has to be one of the lamest noontime clock displays in all of Europe (my tip to visitors: skip it-- you'll be angry with yourself if you stick around, it's that bad). As far as historical context goes, once a year the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire (which was stored in Nuremberg) was displayed for the people to see. The Frauenkirche has been under some extensive cleaning and refurbishment for almost 2 years (hence the netting and construction scaffolding), and it's a vast improvement from what it used to look like.